Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

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  • CAS PH 405: Aristotle I
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 300.
    A careful study of the philosophy of Aristotle conducted primarily through a close reading of several of his major works.
  • CAS PH 408: History of Medieval Philosophy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 300; sophomore standing and CAS PH 300 and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor.
    Topic for Fall 2020: Jewish and Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism. Thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on dynamics of religious experience. Readings from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Biblical interpretation, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain.
  • CAS PH 409: Maimonides
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 300.
    A study of major aspects of the thought of Maimonides. Primary focus on the Guide of the Perplexed, with attention to its modern reception in works by Baruch Spinoza, Hermann Cohen, Leo Strauss, and others. Also offered as CAS RN 420. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • CAS PH 412: Philosophy of the Enlightenment
    A critical examination of that family of philosophical and political movements that called itself "the Enlightenment." Students analyze key texts by Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Smith, Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, Jefferson, Madison, Kant, and Hegel. Also offered as CAS PO 592 and CAS HI 514.
  • CAS PH 413: Kant
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor.
    A study of Kant's critical philosophy, focusing on one or more of his works.
  • CAS PH 415: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 310; and one other philosophy course.
    Course subtitle: "Constructing and Deconstructing Autonomy". We will ask: To what extent is a practical agent free or autonomous? We examine answers to these questions by figures such as Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS PH 416: Hegel
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 310; and two courses in philosophy above the 100 level or consent of the instructor.
    A study of Hegel's systematic philosophy, focusing on one or more of his works.
  • CAS PH 418: Marx and Marxism
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor.
    Philosophical foundation of Marxism and its development. Critical study of Marx's writings stressing questions of philosophy, political economy, science, and history. Emphasis on Marx's theory of relation of praxis to consciousness. Later (including contemporary) Marxists and critics. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS PH 419: Nietzsche
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two philosophy courses, or consent of instructor.
    An intensive study of Nietzsche's philosophical thought. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS PH 422: Analytic Philosophy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: successful completion of CAS PH 360, or equivalent knowledge of quantification theory.
    An examination of some aspects of the development of twentieth-century analytic philosophy, with an emphasis on works by Frege, Russell, the Logical Empiricists (also known as Logical Positivists), and Quine.
  • CAS PH 424: Wittgenstein
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 310; and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor.
    An intensive (line by line) study of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations.
  • CAS PH 426: Phenomenology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor.. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
    Rigorous examination of foundations of philosophical phenomenology in Husserl and others. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS PH 427: Heidegger and Existential Philosophy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two philosophy courses.
    This course critically examines what, in the case of human beings, it means to be, based upon Heidegger's "existential" posing of this question in his early, but unfinished work, Being and Time.
  • CAS PH 436: Gender, Race, and Science
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor.
    An upper-level exploration of topics in the philosophy of gender and philosophy of race, informed by historical and scientific inquiry. Explores philosophical questions about the nature of race and racism, sex and sexism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS PH 443: Philosophy of Mind
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy or consent of instructor.
    The topic is sentience, embodiment, and the brain. The aim is to develop a "neurophenomenological" approach to consciousness and embodied experience in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind.
  • CAS PH 445: The Philosophy of Love
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: one philosophy course, or consent of instructor.
    What is love? What different forms does it take (e.g. parental love, romantic love)? Is love non- rational or are there reasons of love? We aim to answer these and other philosophical questions by focusing on contemporary philosophical writings on love.
  • CAS PH 446: Philosophy of Religion
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 300 and CAS PH 310.
    Critical investigation of the limits of human knowledge and the theoretical and practical demands for meaning attached to notions of God, providence, immortality, and other metaphysical conditions of human thriving, from Plato to modern philosophies of religion. Effective Spring 2022 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS PH 452: Ethics of Health Care
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 350; and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor (PH 150 and PH 251 are recommended).
    Medicine and health care offer a unique opportunity to explore the nature of humanity and the world and to ask fundamental questions concerning the nature of birth, life, and death, and what it is to be a person. Readings from both classical and contemporary writings in ethics, medicine, law, and public health policy.
  • CAS PH 453: Classical to Early Modern Political Theory
    Focuses on philosophical subjects relevant to ethics and politics, such as virtue and happiness; human nature and reason; qualifications of leadership; aims and means of civic education; and conceptions of law (man-made, natural, divine). Texts by Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS PH 456: Topics in Philosophy and Religion
    Topic for Fall 2023: Why are we here? Alongside philosophers and religious thinkers, this course explores different versions of this question. Why are we here reading and talking? Why are we at BU? Why are we here at all? Does life have some meaning? Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Critical Thinking